This is one of the few books that I have not been able to put down, resulting in 4 hours of sleep last night.
Not only is it a riveting read, snopes.com makes an appearance in an inset article!
Crichton's latest work deals with the ethics of genetic manipulation, as well as the legal implications of genetic research.
Unlike most novels that approach their plot in a direct manner, "Next" has several storylines that approach the topic obliquely before being unified (somewhat weakly) at the end. A note to the sceptics, if you didn't find any part of Jurassic Park believable, Next will stretch your sense of belief far beyond the breaking point.
Next dovetails nicely with Crichton's body of work pertaining to bio-engineering and remains topical. From "The Andromeda Strain" to "Prey", "State of Fear" and "Jurassic Park", Crichton's work continues to be speculative morality tales for the twenty first century.
posted
Thanks for the review--Crichton is one of my favorites.
-------------------- Leashes?! We don't need no stinking leashes!! Posts: 4771 | From: The Berkeley of the East Coast: Montgomery County MD | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
I am getting it for Christmas, and am glad to hear it is a good one. I have heard that it is groundbreaking in bringing up issues of genetic modification. I am very interested to see how it compares to Sims by F. Paul Wilson. That was about the near future, where chimpanzees had been genetically modified to be almost up to human level intelligence, and were leased out as labor. The plot revolves around a human lawyer who represents a group of sims who want a few rights, and eventually gets into the morality of the entire sims industry. Great book that appears to be on similar lines as Next.
-------------------- Give yourself to the Dark Side. It is the only way you can save your friends. Posts: 262 | From: Salt Lake City, UT | Registered: Oct 2005
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Snopes.com is mentioned for the blondes going extinct on page 178, and again in th bibliography. Just awesome!
Morrigan
-------------------- "The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep." Robert Frost, Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening Posts: 1701 | From: Michigan | Registered: Mar 2001
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